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FAITH AND THE 3 REFUGES
FAITH AND THE 3 REFUGES
―One should not chase after the past nor place expectations on the future. Rather with insight see into each state as it arises in the moment.‖
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- MN 133
Faith (saddha) is another skillful mental quality that supports meditation. Some meditators are initially averse to acknowledging this factor given its strong connection with organized religion. However, we need at least a little faith to begin practice. If you believe that there is no value in meditation, it is unlikely that you would be reading this. So we begin with the kernel of faith that there may be some benefit to meditation. As our practice grows and we begin to see the benefits of practice, faith in practice grows as well. For many practitioners, faith in their practice becomes quite strong and keeps the forward momentum of practice going during difficult periods. At some point in practice it is helpful to formally acknowledge one‟s faith by taking the 3 refuges (tisarana). These are spoken formally as:
1. I go for refuge to the Buddha. 2. I go for refuge to the Dhamma. 3. I go for refuge to the Sangha.
Most Westerners who take the refuges do not consider them as indicating a blind faith in a deity or a religious icon. Rather, we consider that the Buddha was a human being, like us, who was able to fully awaken. The Buddha taught us the Dhamma to
help us awaken too. The teachings come down through the ages to us in the form of writings and an oral tradition. We can take refuge in the fact that the instructions are sufficient for our practice and that we have the capacity to follow them to the goal of liberation. “Sangha” was initially meant as the community of enlightened monks and nuns that lived at the time of the Buddha. In our times the term applies to the community of meditators and can include a group such as SIM or all of the Buddhist practitioners throughout the world. The key point with Sangha is that it is a community of mutual support and that we cannot do the work of awakening on our own. In taking the refuges we are trusting that by following the example and teachings of the Buddha, and with the support of the community, we can become liberated too.
